Skeptimediais a commentary on
mass media treatment of issues concerning science, the
paranormal, and the supernatural.

Is the iPhone the answer to your prayers?

Crispian has posted
a
list of iWoo apps (apps for the iPhone that cater to the
kinds of things skeptics rail against). He was looking for some
new applications to download to his iPhone and found "there are
applications to give you horoscope readings, bible quotes,
alternative medicine advice, in fact all areas of irrationality
seem to be covered." I doubt there is any similar list for
applications that encourage critical thinking, questioning
authority, or doubting the accuracy of one's perception, memory,
or sources.

One of these iWoo
apps was created by a young man in my little corner of the
world. Allen Wright, a 17-year-old high school junior says he
was "lying in bed and feeling lonesome" when he came up with the
idea of an iWoo app he calls "A Note to God."

It lets iPhone users
send prayers into cyberspace and allows them to read the prayers
of others. The messages are stored in a database, and users
remain anonymous.*

The iPhone may be the
first phone designed for those who have nobody to call. The creator
says: "If you want to send a message, and you don't have anybody
to talk to, you could send a little prayer." I suppose if you
have somebody to talk to you could use your iPhone to call that
person. You might even walk into the next room and say hello to
your father.

Darleen Pryds of the
Franciscan School of Theology calls the app "a brilliant use of
technology" that brings to mind the use of bells to summon
people to pray.

The Rev. James
Murphy, vicar general of the Catholic Diocese of Sacramento,
said the app "could be a high-tech form of prayer and an
authentic way to express our desires to God." Murphy notes that
you don't have to have God's e-mail address to get your prayers
heard, however.

For those who love
hi-tech, have nobody to talk to, and need to communicate with
the divine and reach the transcendent, this iWoo app might be
the answer to your prayers. For those who like their woo
straight, Jeane
Dixon's crystal balls are going on the auction block.
Bidding starts at $500.*